In the Glitter

After reading the substantial theoretical grounding for Reconstructing Pop/Subculture, I read through the remainder of the text. I found myself referring back to the first few chapters on British cultural theory. Though I was content reading the glorious history of the Factory and glitter rock, most interesting is how Cagle intertwines cultural/subcultural themes or trends….he presents an evolutionary study: how one style or scene affects the next. Though not a definite origin, the Factory is a starting point for Cagle’s discussion, a snapshot in the time-line of subculture’s trends. It is almost perfect in its literalness: the Factory was a scene where the theme was: cultural site of production. Cagle’s descriptions mark how the Factory was a locus of people coming together and reinventing their identity. The Factory was simply open. Warhol was in effect toying with the notion that in the age of Pop anyone could attain fifteen minutes in the limelight. In this respect as well as the means and function of the art produced, the Factory was a cultural factory. Its output was its input plus a slant, often silent as in the paintings or nihilistic as was the music.

The chain of influences and appropriations that makes up the spine of cultural evolution is varied. Sometimes the evolution is a blatant influence, other times it exists as independent, affected by a prime instigator. For example, Cagle discusses how dominant Warhol was in shaping the Velvet Underground. He actively sought out musicians, at least to provide a musical counterpart to his work in the Factory. The Factory incorporated Lou Reed and his band into the production line. They were given practice space and direction. Warhol orchestrated other facets of the music/performance. He chose a female vocalist (Nico) and managed the live shows, which were spaces for his videos and multimedia.

Argued as the precursor to glitter rock, Cagle depicts the Velvet Underground as a cultural product heavily and directly shaped by the Factory. Other examples such as the Detroit scene, circa late 1960s-early 1970s (Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and the Stooges) are depicted as having a less direct connection to the Factory. Regardless, “We can begin by considering that the New York/Warholian tradition (1965-1969) provided glitter performers with the primary themes of flamboyance, style and image construction, polymorphous sexuality, and multimedia montage as performance art.” (p. 96)

It is important to note here that the Detroit performers appropriated Warhol-type style; in a sense they piggybacked subculture style. Most interesting though is how these musicians pumped the style back into the mainstream: “As a result, a wide range of possibilities opened for fans, many of whom were limited by backgrounds or geographical locations. Thus their predominant subcultural experiences in the early 1970s occurred through the application of subcultural precepts that were transmitted by way of a mass-mediated and highly commercial format.” (p. 98)

The remainder of the book deals with David Bowie. This is significant as we are able to study how cultural, or subcultural evolution exists in relation to space. We start by looking at Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground who where influenced directly by the Factory…they even lived in it. Lyrics were often about Factory people. We then look at a different context: the auto industry hub of Detroit. We consider how bands in Detroit emerged in the early seventies, more indirectly influenced by Warholian ways. Hence, we view an appropriation at the level of subculture that in turn exposes itself at the level of mass culture. At this level of extraction, Detroit rock fans didn’t necessarily have to know about New York, Warhol, the Factory…

Cagle gives an intricate account of David Bowie’s rise to stardom and relates it to the Factory. He builds up as the reader waits in suspense for the moment the connection becomes obvious: Bowie does coffee houses. Bowie signs with a manager. Bowie does miming. Bowie becomes interested in video, and then: “…Space Oddity, a composition that was inspired in part by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.” Cagle continues, “Most important, the theme of Space Oddity was among the first to suggest Bowie’s philosophical alignment with many of the conceptual ideas that had been explored by Andy Warhol, the Velvet Underground, and other like-minded American artists and musicians” (p. 112). We have contact.

Next comes the elaboration of the connection between Bowie’s style and Warhol. “In the studio, [Bowie] spent much time listening to the music of Iggy Pop and the Velvet Underground, and he took to heart the Warholian notion of creating a persona.”

The argument Cagle presents finds its way deeper into the correlation between Bowie’s work and all that is Warholian. As the chapter entitled Foundation of Glitter Rock comes to a close: “Within the span of roughly one year, these Warholian pop influences and ideas culminated in one of the most elaborate rock and roll productions of all time: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” (p. 115) And with this, Bowie quickly became the leader of the glitter trend.